


Trapped In A Car With Somebody You Don't Want To Be Trapped In A Car With

by HannahPelham



Category: Cricket RPF
Genre: M/M, long term pining, title from crazy ex girlfriend
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:48:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22048900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahPelham/pseuds/HannahPelham
Summary: Chris and Jos, two and a half years after their breakup, are sharing a car from Lords to Headingley. Things occur.
Relationships: Chris Woakes/Jos Buttler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Trapped In A Car With Somebody You Don't Want To Be Trapped In A Car With

When the list of lift shares during the 2019 Ashes series was put up on the wall of the changing room at Lord’s, Jos Buttler thought he might be sick. Chris Woakes was the last person he wanted to share with. After their extremely messy break-up in 2016, during the World Twenty20, they’d hardly spoken unless absolutely necessary in training. During training sessions, they kept up a veneer of complete professionalism. When, however, they found themselves in the same setting when they didn’t have to be, they could hardly even look at each other. 

They’d dated for 7 months back in 2015-16. When they’d split up, rather acrimoniously it must be said, Jos had still been in love with Chris. He’d been in love with Chris for years before they got together, and proceeded to remain in love with him until this very moment, when Jos found himself faced with the prospect of sharing a car with just Chris all the way from Lord’s to Headingley. He wondered, perhaps even secretly hoped, they might be able to talk through what happened in early April 2016 in India, but he wasn’t hopeful. It had been three years, Jos had given up all hope of ever having a civil conversation with Chris ever again. He rather hoped they’d stick the radio on and not speak for the 4 hour drive, but he soon reckoned that would not be the case. He thought Chris might use this as an excuse to talk about the past, and it was probably for the best. 

The day arrived, and Jos could hardly contain his nerves, and they were very much nerves. He wondered what Chris might say to him, what memories he might bring up, what he thought about the whole situation. 

“Alright mate?” Chris said quietly as he got into Jos’ car. Jos smiled weakly back at him. 

“Not too bad, mate. You?” He replied, wondering if this was the polite beginning of something slightly less polite to come. 

“Not too bad” Chris replied, doing up his seatbelt as Jos pulled away out of the Lord’s carpark. There was an awkward silence. Neither knew what to say. What does one say when faced with 4 hours in a car with your ex-boyfriend with whom you parted on very much less than good terms? Jos reasoned with himself that the awkward silence was better than a row when driving at 85mph on the M1. He knew what he really wanted. Really, he wanted to tell Chris that he was still completely and irrevocably in love with him, but he didn’t really think that was a very good idea. He guessed it would cause a row, and probably a car crash killing both of them. He could see the headlines now…

“England cricket stars killed in car crash during row about their relationship: Buttler and Woakes dead in their thirties”

He didn’t fancy that. Mainly for Chris’ sake. Jos wouldn’t mind the sweet release of death, as he called it, if it meant he didn’t have to be so painfully in love with Chris anymore. He loved Chris so utterly and completely that it hurt to see him, it hurt to see him have a string of short term boyfriends, quick fucks, friends with benefits, the whole lot. Jos had, to his mind, stayed loyal to Chris since their split. Chris had whored himself out as a way of dealing with the intense emotions of the breakup. 

“How’s Dan?” Jos asked tentatively, referring to Chris’ latest squeeze. 

“We broke up” Chris replied flatly, staring out of the window at the cars passing, “yellow car”

“What?”

“There was a yellow car”

“Yes, but why did you say ‘yellow car’?”

“That’s how you play yellow car”

“But we’re not playing yellow car”

“But Jos, you’re always playing yellow car” Chris replied, beginning to smile. Jos knew full well they were playing ‘yellow car’. It had been their favourite travelling game throughout their relationship, along with the travelling lemon (they’d discovered ‘Cabin Pressure’ and become obsessed during that Ashes series). 

Jos began to laugh, and soon the tension that had been there previously dissipated. It was obvious neither of them hated the other. They still liked each other. That was a relief to Jos, to know that Chris didn’t hate him. He didn’t know why he would, though Chris had been the person to do the dumping back when they split in 2016. 

Jos slightly didn’t know what to do with himself. Should he make conversation now the tension had gone? Should he stay quiet and pretend to focus very hard on driving when in fact it was only about three roads for four hours to get to Headingley? 

“You seeing anyone?” Chris asked. He thought it was polite to ask his ex how he was doing, romantically.

“Nope, haven’t really since we, well, y’know” Jos replied, wondering what Chris would think about this. It would probably out his long lasting love for the brummie, but by this point in his life, Jos didn’t really care. 

“Since we broke up”

“Yeah” Jos whispered, looking quickly over at Chris, who was staring intensely at him. Jos wondered, hoped, that the reason none of Chris’ relationships had worked out because there were still lingering feelings for him. He had never got his hopes up before, but seeing Chris like this give him something to hang onto. 

A silence fell over the car which quickly dashed Jos’ hopes. He wondered if he’d said too much, or not enough. Whatever he’d done, it had silenced Chris. Jos didn’t know how long it was before either of them spoke again, but they were much further up the M1. 

“You’re thinking very loudly, Jos. Do you want to know why nothing’s lasted since you?” Chris asked. 

“If you’re asking that, I think you know the answer, Chris” Jos replied, focusing on the road.

“I never got over you. I always regretted breaking it off. That’s why I can, or could, never speak to you at training, I always thought if I spoke to you I’d want to kiss you and that would be disastrous because it ended and that’s how it is”

“The very last thing that would be is disastrous” Jos replied, trying to stay cool. He looked over to the passenger seat to see Chris looking at him with nothing but love in his eyes. All he saw in him was complete adoration, and it made his heart sing. 

A comfortable silence fell over the car, their hands occasionally meeting as Jos reached for the gear stick at the same time as Chris reached for the bottle of water between them. They both felt sparks, and the eye contact made both of them feel both nervous and excited about arriving in Leeds. 

As Leeds began appearing on the signs, Jos got more and more nervous about what would happen when they arrived at Headingley. He knew the others would arrive around the same time as them, and he wasn’t sure he wanted them to know what had happened between him and Chris on the journey. 

Jos pulled into the Headingley car park, and that was when Chris picked his moment. 

“I’m still in love with you, Jos” he said, as the car ground to a halt in a parking space. Jos stared at him, and slowly got out of the car, unsure what to do with himself. Chris knew. The minute Jos’s door was closed, Chris pushed him up against it and kissed him. Jos sighed happily into the kiss, and kissed him back. This felt like home, this felt like where he was meant to be. 

He was so focused on the feeling of Chris’ lips on his again, he hardly noticed the wolf whistles and whooping from the rest of the team, who were taking photos to put on instagram as soon as Jos and Chris let them. They’d all known that Chris and Jos were each other’s forever, they were just waiting for them to realise.


End file.
